Phobia
by YourSilentMemory
Summary: “Everyone was once afraid of the dark. It is a known fact. Usually, this kind of fear only appears in small children. This fear naturally vanishes once a child reaches the age of ten. When children are younger than ten, most children report that they are


YSM: Hello, this is my first Fruits Basket fan fic, so please go easy on me. This might be my first Fruits Basket fic, but it's not my first ever fic. My old account used to be Mistrissofbakura, but I grew tired of that account so this is a new account, and hopefully, a new beginning for the way I write my stories. So, any reviews are appreciated. I tried my best not to make any of the characters OOC, but this is the best I could come up with.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. Ms. Natsuki Takaya does.

Phobias

Chapter one, intro

A silent Yuki sat in the corner of his darkened room clutching at the hair on the sides of his head as he sat cradled up. His eyes were widened with terror as he stared down at the wooden floor paneling, his breathing was highly noticeable, and it almost sounded as if he were having another one of his asthma attacks. At the opposite end of the room stood his mother standing by the door next to Hatori and his father. Since Hatori was studying medicine, he always tagged along with his father since it was his duty to become the Sohma family's next doctor long after his father had past retired. While Yuki's mother and Hatori's father quietly spoke, Hatori couldn't help but peer in from the opening of the door and into Yuki's room, where he observed the terror-written expression which was frozen on the other boy's face.

"What am I going to do with him? It's bad enough I can't control that other kid of mine, but I will not give up on this one, no matter how much time it takes. Akito favors him the most, and with that luck maybe I can some day get out of here and forget about these mistakes. But…I don't know what to do with him anymore…" Yuki's mother's voice began to quiver and break down.

"I will go and check on him, I will be back shortly." Hatori replied as he looked to the side at both adults. They both nodded and stepped aside, letting him gain passage into the room.

As Hatori disappeared into the room, he heard his father's strong voice from the opposite side of the door as he approached a very young Yuki whose gaze was still fixed on the floor. "You said Yuki has a fear of the dark, didn't you?"

"Yes, the child breaks down into screams when left alone in the dark. I'm not sure if this has to do with Akito, but I'd like to think it isn't so I will. I know every child is afraid of the dark, but not like this! Yuki…he's absolutely _terrified_ of being left in the dark. There has to be something wrong with him."

"I completely understand, Mrs. Sohma, when you were a child, wasn't there something that you were terrified of as well?"

"What does this have to do with me!" She snapped back, not quite understanding why he had to involve her in her son's problems. Hatori from inside Yuki's bedroom knelt down on his knees and sat about three inches in front of him, suddenly placing his hands on the other boy's face and gently tilting his head upwards so he could get a good look at him.

Suddenly a very frightened Yuki's breathing heavily picked up as he in return placed his hands on the other boys face as well, patting him, and almost checking to see if he were indeed real. "Y-you're really he-here, aren't you?" He shook violently, Hatori nodded.

"Yes, I'm here." Hatori sternly replied as he released Yuki's hands away from his face and studied his eyes. He quickly and quietly stood back up, his gaze never once glancing away as he turned and began walking backwards toward one of the light switches. Yuki stared across at him with pure horror written on his face as he awaited some kind of new movement.

Yuki's mother looked down at her high heeled feet, "I was afraid of…snakes. I had a severe…disliking to snakes, I guess you could say I might have had a disorder because of my fear or dislike of them. Maybe that's why I've failed with Aya, because I couldn't understand him- but none of this has to do with Yuki!"

"I see Mrs. Sohma; do you know what a phobia is?"

"Of course I know what a phobia is, I'm not stupid." She replied bitterly as she began nervously twirling a few strands of her silky hair with her fingers.

"A phobia is a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it might not be dangerous. In other words, it's a fear taken to extreme measures." He replied as Yuki's mother just glared at him.

"I told you I knew what a phobia was."

"Have you ever had a phobia?"

Yuki's mother looked down and bit her lip, finally, without looking up, she replied, "They call it Ophiophobia, the fear of snakes. What are you saying? That Yuki might have some kind of phobia? Phobias are not connected through genetics or such; it is created by the person in general. Are you saying that I could have passed on that trait to Yuki? It's impossible because phobias can't be traits."

"No, what I'm saying is-"

"No! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Yuki screamed from the opposite side of the door. Suddenly a loud crash was heard along with the sound of glass breaking. Both adults immediately opened the door to see Hatori standing near the light switch. Hatori quickly and swiftly flicked the lights back on from the darkness. When the lights flashed back on, he was seen standing calmly, despite the fact that blood was trailing down from his forehead.

"It appears Yuki has achluophobia." Hatori replied before crashing to his knees while grabbing at his bleeding forehead. As he crashed down to his knees, his knees quickly sunk into a few of the millions of pieces of glass that had shattered after Yuki had thrown a small vase across at him. Despite the pain, Hatori didn't even cry out, being the calm, silent person he was.

Yuki's mother suddenly grabbed a thick blanket and ran across the room towards Yuki, wrapping the cloth around him and picking him up, the cloth being there to prevent Yuki from transforming into a rat. As she swiftly picked the boy up, she quickly placed the boy on the bed and sat him up, sitting next to him. Without a moments notice, she flung her hand across his face.

"Why did you throw the vase at Hatori? Huh?" She asked strictly, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and shaking him abruptly. "Yuki, answer me! Why did you throw the vase at Hatori? You know we do **not** throw things in this house when we are angry, now explain yourself!"

"S-stop it, mom, you're hurting me!" Yuki winced suddenly before breaking out into tears, "Stop it mom, you're hurting me!" He cried as he waited for her to release him, finally when she had came to her senses, she let go of him then weakly stared at him. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore, Yuki…I've tried everything…everything…and nothing has worked…!"

"I saw…" Yuki's voice trailed off then immediately stopped. His mother still looked down, her long silver hair falling over her face, almost hiding all of her features. "What did you see…Yuki?" She asked dryly.

"I see 'things.' I see ghosts…the reason I threw the vase at Hatori was because I thought he was a ghost! He told me he was real, but _that's what they all say_. I-I didn't know…!" He stuttered, Hatori from across the room stared at him before falling over on his side, completely passing out on his father. His father motioned for Yuki's mother to help him, she slowly got up and walked over to him, finally together they managed to get Hatori's weakened body onto his father's back. The man stood up and walked toward the door.

"We'll show our selves out. Yuki is indeed achluophobic; I would suggest keeping him in lighted rooms whenever possible. Do **not** put him in the dark, whatever you do. Achluophobia is one of the hardest phobias to cure, so in time, he might forget about all these illusions, but to be safe, if it's absolutely necessary to have him in the dark, he must be accompanied. He cannot be alone in the dark, **ever**." Hatori's father sternly said before rushing out of the house.

Once they were both gone and it was just Yuki and his mother, his mother turned to him. "See Yuki? See all the trouble you cause…?"

_Present Day_

Kyo smiled in victory to Yuki's defeat as he had successfully managed to lock Yuki up in his own gardening shed. Although he had not actually beaten Yuki, as in the way he was supposed to with fists, he managed to somewhat beat him by surprising Yuki from behind and shoving him into the shed.

Yuki's light slender body crashed to the pavement as he saw with just a glimpse out of the corner of his eyes Kyo standing in the doorway before quickly slamming the door closed. His eyes widened out of anger as he quickly shot up and grabbed the door's handle only to discover Kyo had jammed something under the knob on the other side of the door. Grunting, Yuki folded his arms across his chest and glared at the door as if it were Kyo.

"That surely has to be one of the lowest, lamest tricks in the book." Yuki commented.

"Yeah, but apparently you fell for it, so now who's lame?" Kyo smirked with satisfaction. Oh, how he was enjoying this moment. If only it could last forever, however, he knew Tohru would be coming to check on Yuki and him any minute now for supper, so unfortunately it had to end soon. Unless… Kyo suddenly dug into his pocket and pulled out his walkman, turning it on to its highest volume.

"Ah! Kyo!" Tohru called out as she approached the boy who was casually leaning against one of the trees next to Yuki's garden. Kyo smirked, ah, just in the nick of time.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner's almost ready, where's Yuki?" She asked as she wiped her hands on her frilly white apron. Kyo almost laughed at her, seeing as how she was still wearing her school uniform underneath the apron. Sometimes she was so careless.

"Miss Honda-" Yuki cut himself off, realizing the loudness of Kyo's radio. He felt it would be stupid to yell, he just couldn't imagine himself yelling, so he began hitting the shed door with his fist, hoping Tohru would by any chance hear him and help him escape.

"How the hell should I know! Gah, look, he said he was going to the store to buy whatever his pansy ass would buy at the store, and that he would be back later." Kyo lied through his teeth. Truth was, he was a horrible actor, but Tohru apparently seemed to believe his little white lie, so he just went with it.

"Oh, I wish he would have told me! After all, I could have gone to get it, I mean, it is my responsibility to take care of all the little errands around the house, that was the deal, so now it seems like I'm freeloading and that I can't be trusted- I'm so sorry!" Tohru cried then covered her eyes with her hands.

"Don't worry about it; let's just go back to the house." Kyo replied in a highly annoyed voice. He couldn't stand it when Tohru just went on and on about how everything was her fault. He already knew one Ritsu; he didn't need to know another. He suddenly took her by the hand and the two calmly began walking back down to Shigure's house, Tohru being completely unaware by the sudden pounding going on inside the shed.

Yuki's heart began to race. He couldn't believe the nerve of that cat! Just what did he have in mind? What were his reasons for locking him up! Just the very way everything had happened was low. This seemed like something more desperately thought up. What were Kyo's motives or reasons for locking him up…?

"Tohru…"

Yuki narrowed his eyes. He glanced down and rolled up his right white sleeve to reveal a digital watch. It was 5:30 in the afternoon. If Kyo was planning on putting any kind of moves on Tohru, it would be pathetic to try anything at this time of day. Unless…Just how long was Kyo planning on keeping him locked up?

"It's going to be getting dark soon…" Yuki's voice trailed off.

Kyo and Tohru quietly sat down at Shigure's dinner table, however, the author was no where to be seen. Tohru glanced over at Kyo, "That seems strange…Shigure's not here?"

Kyo shook his head, "No, he went to go bug Hatori and Ayame or something, whatever, just don't plan on him coming back anytime soon today." He muttered then began to stuff his face with the bowl of rice. Tohru smiled, happy that Kyo enjoyed her cooking so much. She clapped her hands together then picked up her pair of chopsticks, breaking them apart and finally digging in for herself.

"Hiro's gotten a lot taller nowadays, right Kyo?" Tohru suddenly said, trying to spark up a conversation. Kyo slowly looked up at her from his fish, staring at her weirdly. Why would he care if that brat had gotten taller? He hated Hiro, and he was pretty sure Hiro hated him in return. But that was natural; Hiro hated everybody except for Kisa and Rin.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. He's still pretty short though." He replied, trying to be his nicest. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings, then she would break down into tears and go on about how sorry she was.

"He and Kisa make such a cute couple. Hmm, it's strange how everyone's pairing up nowadays. Kisa and Hiro make a cute couple, Rin and Haru makes such a cool couple, Uo and Kureno also make such a sweet couple. And Kagura and you-"

"There is no Kagura and I, but I doubt she'll ever understand that. I can't stand that woman; she's almost as annoying as that kid Momiji." Kyo replied, Tohru smiled at his gesture.

"Momiji is really sweet in his own way. I enjoy every one of the Sohma's company. Shigure is so kind for letting me stay here in his home, Kisa is so cute, Momiji's fun to play with, Hiro is such a kind hearted person…" Tohru continued on about what she enjoyed about the rest of the Sohma's. Kyo's eye twitched. After many moments of waiting, she had yet to approach his name.

"Kyo, you're a secretly sweet person, and I enjoy your company more than anything." Tohru smiled at him, sending the boy into complete embarrassment. He turned red.

"I'm only fun when I'm around you. I…enjoy your company too, Tohru." He replied, Tohru clasped her hands together with happiness.

"Really!" She asked as if she could hardly believe it were true. Kyo nodded, suddenly he and Tohru both got caught up in their conversation and soon seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours before finally Tohru glanced up at the clock. "It's seven o'clock. Yuki hasn't come home yet…"

Kyo's face suddenly sunk with horror. "Oh crap!" He screeched before jolting up and dashing back outside. Tohru, worried, quickly stood from the table and hurried after him, following him into Yuki's secret base where she spotted Kyo leaning his head on the shed door.

"Kyo…!" She called out, Kyo looked back at her then jumped back when he felt Yuki throw himself against the door. Kyo quickly removed the metal bar he had jammed from under the knob of the door and yanked the door open, Yuki, who had been resting on the door, tumbled out of the shed.

Tohru, eyes wide, shrieked as she spotted Yuki fall. She dashed over to him and turned him over; the boy's eyes were shut tightly as his arms were clenching each side of his waist. But what caught Tohru's eyes the most were Yuki's arms. His sleeves naturally fell below his fists, but the white sleeves were now soiled with blood from where Yuki had tried to beat the door down by punching it. Tohru glared up at Kyo. "Why did you- why did you do this to him!" She cried, prying Yuki's hands away from his sides. As he released his sides both of his hands clamped around her wrists tightly, Tohru shrieked from pain.

"He's just sucking up, that girly-man." Kyo muttered, placing his hands on his hips.

Yuki slowly opened his eyes. As his vision focused, when he spotted Kyo, Yuki simply got up and ran back to Shigure's house. When he approached the house, he quickly slid the door open and dashed up the stairs and into the safety of his own room where he threw himself against one of the wooden bedposts and clung to it as if he were falling. Quietly, he began to murmur things only audible to himself, as if he were convincing himself he would be okay.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Hey 'Tori, why don't you and Aya spend the night!" Shigure's drunken voice could be heard from throughout the entire house.

"Splendid idea, Gure-nii, I think I shall!" Ayame replied with his obnoxious as ever voice. Downstairs Yuki could hear Hatori muttering to the both of the drunken men about finding "real" jobs and to stop their obsessive drinking; of course Ayame and Shigure were doing everything but listening.

Yuki tightened his arms around the bed post. "I don't believe-!" He whispered to himself over and over again, trying to reassure himself that he wasn't crazy and that he wasn't seeing things. "…I…can't…" He sobbed out loud then rested his head against the bed post.

"I think I shall visit my dearest sweetest brother now! Oh YUKI!" Ayame called out. His rushed footsteps could be heard heavily climbing the staircase. When he approached the room, the footsteps stopped as Ayame stared at Yuki confusedly. "Yuki?"

"Go away; I don't need you right now!" Yuki cried out, Ayame, still being drunk, just blinked. Ignoring him, he stepped inside the room, sliding the door closed behind him. As he approached him, he placed both his hand on Yuki's shoulders.

"Yuki, what's wron-"

"Right now, you're the _last_ person I'd ever want to talk to." Yuki snapped harshly. Upon coming to his senses, he released his grip from the bed post and silently let his body collapse backwards. He now was lying back first on the wooden floor.

Ayame glanced at him through hurt eyes. He may be drunk at the moment, but he sure wasn't stupid! At that moment he had to admit, yes, his feelings were hurt by his younger brother, but he would never show that. It was a question of his pride, and he wouldn't break his Ayame ways, he would surrender to no one, not even Hatori. Ayame stood, Yuki rolled his head over to watch his older sibling leave the room, but as he approached the door, Ayame turned back to face him.

"Fine, Yuki, but you can't say I still push you away. I try. But now it is you who is the one that is pushing me away. If that's the way things will be for now…then I don't know…" Ayame replied then swiftly turned out of the room, his long silver hair hitting the door frame on the way out.

As Ayame walked back down the stairs, he was greeted by Hatori who was waiting for him at the bottom. Hatori just stared at him blankly, wondering what was going on. Ayame, finally getting the hint, tossed his hair to the side and caught a few strands of his hair, striking one of his regular poses. "Hatori, something's wrong with him!" Ayame scoffed before walking past him. Hatori silently watched the other man make his way into the dining room where he joined Shigure. He was slightly puzzled by the way Ayame had said that sentence. It was like he was telling one of his careless jokes. What was Yuki to Ayame now? Was he a careless joke now too?

Tohru glared across the garden at Kyo who was frozen stiff. He was caught, and there was no way out now. Today he'd probably have to spill the whole truth. Sure, he could easily hide things from Tohru, but that was only his last option. He felt bad about leaving her in the dark…ugh! What was he talking about? This had to do with him, it shouldn't be involving Tohru! But…Tohru was one of the reasons he resorted to doing this to Yuki.

"I can't say I'll forgive you. I don't know if it's safe to yet, or if it's the right choice. But- why did you do that to Yuki? Was it a game? Did you forget to let him out? Or…what was it?" Tohru asked, still worried about the other boy who was now inside the house.

"I…" Kyo's voice trailed off, "I just wanted time alone with you." He continued. A deep shade of crimson spread across his face as he noticed Tohru had been staring at him for a long time now. Maybe she wasn't staring; maybe she was studying him, trying to figure him out. He didn't know, but he was starting to feel more uncomfortable by the minute.

"What? If you wanted more time with me, you should have asked! I would have made the time for just you and I…it's just…I enjoy both of your company so I don't usually think about what your feelings are and…Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I'll try not to let it happen again…"

"Don't be sorry. Just stop. It has nothing to do with you; it's between me and that damn rat. He _purposely_ interrupts our time, because he knows it gets to me. Gah! I just wanted to spend the day with you without _him_."

"But you still shouldn't have done that, Kyo!"

"Okay, I know it was wrong, okay! Damn, everything I ever do is wrong! Don't do this, or don't do that---Don't you ever think I have reasons for my actions!" Kyo angrily began marching his way back to the house, abandoning Tohru in a hurry. Tohru looked down, hurt. She couldn't believe Kyo just yelled at her like that! She knew he sometimes had his tempers, but he was so clueless to the fact that every time he yelled over something he was hurting her inside!

Tohru collapsed to her knees, "Kyo…" Tears welled up inside her eyes, "You're such a jerk…"

As Kyo entered the house, Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame all looked up at him from the dining table. Ayame slammed his fist on the table, "Aha! You're back home, which means you're obviously the perpetrator!" Ayame smirked.

Kyo narrowed his eyes. Ayame was the last person he wanted to talk to, ever. Besides, why the hell did Shigure have to bring back these two? "Whatever, I'm going to bed, which means you don't have to go home, but you have to sure have to get the heck out of here!" He muttered then rudely walked past him, only to be stopped when the silver haired man grabbed him by the ankle.

Ayame looked down; his golden eyes were now covered by the shadow of his long silver bangs. He was serious now, "You did something to my brother, now I want to know what you did."

Shigure gasped dramatically before falling back and passing out, drunkenly. Hatori slammed his head into the table as if to ask _why me?_ Kyo began to hiss, a sign that he usually showed when he was trying to keep his anger down.

"What did you do to him? I haven't seen him that shaken up since he was seven." Ayame's voice began breaking; suddenly Hatori shot up then turned to Ayame as if he had made an amazing discovery.

"Did you say when Yuki was seven?" He asked Ayame, Ayame nodded. Hatori turned back to Kyo, remembering that one night almost eleven years ago. "Let me guess, you put him in the dark, didn't you?" Hatori asked wryly. Ayame's eyes immediately sparked up.

"You didn't, did you!" He sputtered; Kyo gave him a crazy look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, wondering why the sudden discussion about the dark had anything to do with the subject. Hatori ran his hand through his bangs; the image that he was tired was now shown. "I'm talking about Yuki's case of achluophobia."

Kyo gave him a twisted look. Back when he was living with Shishou, he remembered Shishou always had a rather large amount of books lying around the house, but what he remembered the most was that most of the books Shishou collected were rather…strange. So naturally, Shishou had a book lying around that was labeled "Phobias." Kyo found it was a rather stupid read. He figured it was a book to convince people that they were crazy, but of course, Shishou had to be crazy himself to buy the book. Achluophobia was one of the first of the long list of phobias that he had read. "You're telling me that high-and-mighty over there is afraid of the dark? Yeah right," Kyo mumbled then was dragged down by Ayame who forced him to sit.

"Don't make fun of my brother, carrot top!"

"Then don't make fun of my hair, you old man!" Kyo snapped back in defense. He hated when people made fun of his hair. Hatori studied Kyo for a moment, surprised that the boy actually knew what Achluophobia was.

"Actually, mocking, or making fun of Yuki's phobia might not be the wisest choice, Kyo. This is something he's dealt with a majority of his life. If he had no problem throwing a vase at me, he won't have a problem to do it to you either." Hatori said then placed a hand on his forehead where Yuki had thrown the object such long ago.

"Oh boo-hoo, Yuki's afraid of the dark! We were all afraid of the dark at one point. Yuki's just being a girl again." Kyo taunted. Suddenly Tohru stepped inside the room and sat down with them. Secretly she had been listening in on them from the past five minutes.

"That's not something to be made fun of, Kyo. You were once afraid of the dark yourself, you just admitted. Some are just more scared of things than others." She replied, Kyo grunted.

"You were spying on us?"

"You left me alone in the garden; I think we can call it even, don't you? Even so, I'm sorry to the rest of you for spying; I realize it's not my place. I couldn't help it; I was worried about Yuki…" Tohru looked down at the table, upset.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Tohru Honda, it is fine. But yes, you are correct, some people are more scared of things than others, that is what triggers phobias in the first place. Most phobias are curable; however, Yuki's isn't so easy. Achluophobia is something that a person grows out of on their own time. It's all in his nature when he is cured." Hatori said then sat straight up, despite the fact that he was deadly tired. He supposed he would have to hold Shigure up to his offer and spend the night, he was too tired to drive back home, not to mention it would be rather dangerous.

"Oh, would you like some coffee? It seems like you're having trouble staying up…" Tohru asked kindly, Hatori shook his head. The last thing he needed was to stay up even longer than his usual sleeping pattern.

"Secretly, we all have our own kinds of phobias. It is a well known fact that everyone is afraid of something, right? Like me, I'm afraid of heights, and I'm a snake!" Ayame chirped, he was proud of his honesty. Kyo rolled his eyes, not understanding the connections of snakes and heights. "I'm afraid of heights, heck, my mother was afraid of snakes! Shigure's afraid of commitment-"

"Me heard…that…" Shigure weakly whispered from his spot on the floor. He was now starting to feel the effects of a hangover.

"What Hari and I are trying to say is everyone is afraid of something. That's just one of the things that make the world go round!" Ayame stated as if he were actually certified to being saying such statements.

Hatori nodded, "Everyone was once afraid of the dark. It is a known fact. Usually, this kind of fear only appears in small children. This fear naturally vanishes once a child reaches the age of ten. When children are younger than ten, most children report that they are "seeing things." Science hasn't figured it out yet, but they think some children just forget seeing things move around in the dark…but some children don't."

"Spooky." Shigure called out as he sat back up, wincing from the sudden pain in his head. "So you mean they see ghosts, and goblins, demons and angels, huh? Ooh, what about the bogeyman?" Shigure went into one of his laughing fits again until a few glares reached him.

"It wouldn't surprise me. I myself have found it odd that almost all children report seeing the "bogeyman." From reports I have researched, most children say they've seen ghosts or the bogeyman. But in Yuki's case…" Hatori cut himself off as his mind began racing.

Tohru leaned against the table with interest, "So Yuki sees things too? He's like other children? Then that should be considered normal, and maybe we're the weird ones?" She asked as Kyo scoffed.

"Yuki's not a child, so he's not normal. If Yuki's normal then we must all be freaks, end of story."

"Well, I'm not sure about now, but when Yuki was seven and he had just gotten done throwing that…vase at me, he began shouting at his mother that he saw ghosts. But that was a very long time ago, so once again I'm not sure. Yuki must feel violated that we've been sitting here discussing his private matters, so I'm ending this discussion right now. Shigure, I think I will accept your invitation tonight, I don't think I can make it home." Hatori exhaustedly replied, Shigure nodded and joined Aya in their creepy fake cheers.

Tohru stood up and bowed before leaving the room. For some reason she felt it was important to check on Yuki, now that she knew everything. Before making her way to Yuki's room, she stopped in the bathroom and opened one of the small cabinets, slowly reaching for one of the first aid kits. Once she found the kit, she quickly walked across the hall and stopped in front of Yuki's door. To her surprise, the door was slid halfway open. Still, not wanting to be rude, she politely knocked on the door before entering the room.

"Yuki, are you in here?" She asked as she stepped inside, only to notice Yuki sitting in one of the right corners in the room next to his closet. Yuki slowly looked up at her; he held his arms up at her as if he were asking for assistance on getting up. Tohru nodded then placed the first aid kit on his desk before rushing over to help him up. As she grabbed his hands, Yuki let out a harsh shriek, making Tohru jump.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Here, I'll grab you by the arms then," She replied in response then wrapped both of her hands around Yuki's elbows, dragging him up and helping him walk to the bed where she then sat him down. Once he was sitting, she sat down next to him and looked him in the face. "Are you okay, Yuki?" She asked, Yuki shook his head in response.

"No…my…hands…" He replied in a faint voice, once again showing Tohru his white bloodstained sleeves and his raw red knuckles. Tohru gasped at seeing the site.

"Yuki, you should take better care of yourself! Well, you're lucky you have me here with you then." She smiled then took his right hand and rolled his sleeve away from his knuckle. She took a bottle of disinfecting spray out and gently sprayed it across his hand, taking a small cloth afterwards and wiping his hand clean. "Let me see your other one," She asked then he obediently gave her his left hand and let her get to work on that one.

"Thank you, Miss Honda. I'm sorry…you have to see me like this. I must look like a real wreck. I hope I haven't scared you, this isn't how I normally act." Yuki said, rather embarrassed. He knew how to bandage his own wounds…but he secretly enjoyed her touch. She was so kind and gentle; it almost hurt how much she cared for them when they had done nothing for her in return.

"Oh, it's okay. I like learning new things about you, Yuki. It gives me a sense of happiness, that I'm trusted enough." Tohru replied as she finished bandaging his left hand. She once again took his left hand and began bandaging that one as well.

"I thought I had gotten over that problem. I guess not, I suppose."

"Hmm?" Tohru asked, pretending that she didn't know what he was talking about. Yuki just smiled kindly, "I heard you guys talking about it downstairs. I know you know about my stupid little "phobia.""

"It's not stupid, Yuki. Everyone's secretly afraid of the dark. Even I admit to being afraid. And I'll let you on in a little secret, even Hana and Uo are afraid of the dark."

"Miss Hanajima is afraid of the dark? Why did I not see that one coming?" Yuki laughed, Tohru smiled. If only she could hear him do that more often. "But it's embarrassing, Miss Honda. And since Kyo knows now, he will no doubt keep bugging me about it from now on…" Yuki's face grew pale. A thought just occurred to him. What if Kyo were to tell the rest of the student council about his problem? Oh lord…what if Manabe found out? Kimi, Machi, Naohito…? Kimi and Manabe would never let him live it down. Or even worse…what if the fan girls found out? Yuki visibly shuddered.

Tohru blinked, starting to worry about the boy. "Well, I'm sure if I ask him he won't. Don't worry; I'll make sure the fan girls don't find out!" Tohru cheered. Yuki blinked, wondering if Tohru could now suddenly read minds. He shrugged it off.

"Thank you, Miss Honda." He smiled.

"No problem! Tohru Honda is here!" Tohru smiled back then closed up the kit. She stood up and began walking back to the door. When she reached the door, she turned back to look at Yuki. "I'll see you tomorrow for school?"

Yuki nodded, "Sure. Good night Miss Honda."

"Good night, Yuki."

End of chapter

YSM: So what do you think? Should I make the effort to continue this story? Is it good? Please R&R.


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